Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Well, there goes that Idea.

So A called the Iranian embassy yesterday afternoon. He has to get his passport renewed. He thought it would take a couple of weeks, based on how long it took his mum, but never called to verify with them. Um, no. 6 weeks. So he will get his passport back mid September. On top of that, because he is an Iranian citizen instead of Canadian, he will need a visa to go to pretty much any country. (except for iran, then I would need a visa). Visa’s usually take 2 to 3 weeks to get, could be longer though if there are any problems. Like being from an Axis of Evil.

So it looks like Hawaii is definitely out. Greece and St. Lucia are almost definitely out. St. Lucia *might* still be an option since it is a commonwealth country. That leaves… Canada. :( Don’t get me wrong. I love our country and I definitely do want A to see more of it, and to travel through Canada with him, but I’m not sure October is the best month for it. Also doesn’t seem to honeymoony to me and kind of boring.

I’m a little sad :( I was looking forward to seeing something new and going somewhere different. The last time I went anywhere even remotely exotic was three years ago now, and I want to travel. Not see the same sights as I have seen several times before.

I’m also a little frustrated with A. If he got his passport renewed (or started to) a month ago like I suggested, he would have it by now and we would have plenty of time to get a visa. Or, if he had his Canadian citizenship (like I have been nagging him about for over 2 years now) he wouldn’t even need a visa to go most places). I told him he should bribe the people at the embassy to process his visa faster. Or that he should explain that his fiancĂ© is going to leave him for giving her a bad honeymoon (jokingly of course).

Good Bye Hawaii. Good bye Greece. Good bye St. Lucia.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Shocking

Another Blog update already that is ;)

Last week was pretty good. I only had two half days in the field. I think the last time I had a week like that was probably in April. Wow. On Tuesday morning I had to go out to dig a couple of test pits at the sit I spent most of June at, and then on Wednesday one of our main clients had a gasoline spill, so I had to go out with the PM for the emergency response. Really though, there wasn’t much point in my being there.

The weekend was good. A’s mum came down on Saturday and we took her driving. (She is trying to get her full license by the time of our wedding since if A’s grandparents come, she wants to be able to drive them around and out of TO on the weekends). On Saturday night we watched my sister’s wedding video so that A’s mum could see what a north American wedding was like. To be honest, the video was MUCH the same as our wedding will be ;).

On Sunday morning I took A’s Mum driving again, while A worked on the back door. We replaced the spring on the back storm door, the handles, painted the actually door (Hawaiian Cinder http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Behr-S-G-710-Hawaiian-Cinder-p/mpc0080979.htm) and replaced the hinges and door knobs on the back door. It looks really good now.

Also, yesterday afternoon I booked our room for the night of our wedding. As D suggested, we are staying at the Montrose Inn in the Campbell Suite http://www.montroseinn.ca/bedrooms.htm. It looks like a really nice place. Plus, Road to Avonlea was filmed there ;) (when Cecily had to go to the Sanatorium when she had tuberculosis.)

In other news, it was decided last week that we aren’t going to Iran or Scotland for our Honeymoon. We have been convinced that October is not the time of year to visit Scotland, and Arash doesn’t want to go to Iran for our honeymoon since the visit would be all about visiting with A’s family and not relaxing and enjoying ourselves. We will save that for another trip. A is pushing for Hawaii , which I admit would be lovely. Personally, I’m pushing for St. Lucia or Greece.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Long time no update (AKA Wedding budget woes)

So it looks like the last time I updated was early June. Oopsies. Story of my life – Work is crazy busy. That is basically it.

On June 11th a dig an dump job started that I was doing the field work for. I was out at that job site every day between June 11 and July 4th. Long 4 weeks. In June I was 138% chargeable. Go me. It’s actually kind of sad. To date this year, I’m over 100% chargeable, my chargeability goal is 85%. Busy. Also, at the end of June I started pay roll deductions to be a shareholder in my company. Last year share prices increased almost 30% plus a 10% dividend. Should have bought shares last year!!! Hopefully we will do equally well this year. We must with all this overtime I’m putting in!!!

So if June wasn’t bad enough chargeability wise, on July 5th and 6th I got ready to and went up North to Mattawa to work in the bush from the 7th to the 14th. I came back down on the 15th. The first full week in July I was 180% chargeable. The second week (last week) I was 170% chargeable. Phew. I guess that is what happens when you work 17 days straight with no break :(. Hopefully I will be able to take a couple of days off later this month to relax. Well, at least one.

So basically. I have been busy.

Somehow in the insanity of the last month and a half, I have managed to fit in the following things.

1) Had J and C up for a weekend in June. Nice visit and the fabulous ladies helped me with the invitations. I’ve got so many compliments on them, but really, the kudos goes mostly to these gals who did most of the real work while A and I figured out the wording and babysat the printer so that we wouldn’t ruin many vellum sheets!!!
2) Had my aunt, uncle, cousin and her kids over for dinner on the long weekend. It was nice seeing them all again
3) Went to J&Ps on the long weekend and got to visit with EK&W, burger, J&P, J&G
4) Went to see Get Smart – Hilarious. I would recommend it to anyone. I was not disappointed!
5) Got invitations addressed and sent out (almost all) exactly 3 months before the wedding. There were a few that A had to find addresses for. Lazy boys ;). We still have to invitations to go out. For his groomsmen *eye roll*
6) My Dress came in! Dad has paid the remainder of the deposit.
7) Ordered MIL dress for the wedding (bad me, did this too late and have to pay an extra $25 for rush.)
8) Picked up my wedding ring. It is pretty nice, but it ended up costing $200 more than he quoted me which makes me a little mad. :( I think he used more gold than he expected he was going to.
9) Got my hair piece. It was about half of what I budgeted for
10) Booked toilets for the wedding.

I think that takes care of most of the big things for the wedding, though I still need to get a hair stylist (boo!) and arrange for the bus transportation to and from the wedding. I called a place at lunch today and it looks like it is going to be more than double what I had budgeted for it.

At this point it looks like our wedding will likely be about $1000 over budget. Not that we have an extra $1000 just lying around. Oh well. It sucks because a lot of the cost have gone up astronomically since S&Ws wedding – like tent rental went up about 40%, $5000 vs. $3500. Photographers 300% from $500 to $1500, DJ 200% from $250 to $500. Our wedding is going to be smaller and cost $3000 more. Everyone in the family was making fun saying that it is because I have more expensive tastes (which may be true), but that is so not it :(